Check The Fine Print: Some Work-Based Health Plans Exclude Outpatient Surgeries
This new generation of so-called “skinny plans” can save employers money, but it’s not yet clear if they will meet regulatory scrutiny.
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This new generation of so-called “skinny plans” can save employers money, but it’s not yet clear if they will meet regulatory scrutiny.
Officials have proposed establishing six options for the exchange plans that would set standard deductibles and maximum out-of-pocket spending limits, among other things.
The phrase often used for government-run health care means different things to different people. Here are five points to help explain the Democrats’ policy clash.
Forty-nine states now take Medicaid applications by phone and 49 also accept online applications, reports the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Big, sparsely populated states such as Montana are dependent on air ambulances to get people to specialized medical care. But those lifesaving flights can be hugely expensive and not covered by insurance.
High-deductible health plans don’t necessarily trigger comparison shopping or informed health care choices by consumers, according to a survey published in Tuesday’s JAMA Internal Medicine.
Many insurers leave out information about abortion coverage on the summary of benefits and coverage.
About 300,000 Hispanic children gained insurance in 2014 from 2013, dropping the number of uninsured to 1.7 million, researchers said, and two-thirds of 1.7 million uninsured Hispanic kids live in five states.
Urban Institute researchers found that premiums and out-of-pocket costs are still a major concern for people seeking coverage on the health care marketplaces.
KHN’s consumer columnist answers questions about how people can handle moving between the government health plan for low-income residents and the private plans offered on the federal health law’s exchanges.
Increased comparative information on health plans is helping consumers shop, says Margaret O’Kane, president of the National Committee for Quality Assurance.
The government’s most detailed release of figures shows insurance plan sign-ups beat the Obama administration’s goal for the year.
The plans can help workers cover their high deductibles, but the policies also have limitations.
Even savvy consumers stumble over terms like “coinsurance.”
Some insurers are betting that lowering the barrier to seeing a doctor will encourage people to get needed care sooner. If it works, the health plans could save more than they spend on the benefit.
Poverty and mental illness are among problems keeping about two-thirds of those infected — mainly minorities — from receiving treatment.
Two physician groups say the government’s regulations for out-of-network emergency care payments will cost consumers more because insurers will pay less.
Some medicines, particularly intravenous treatments, are not listed in plans’ pharmacy benefit section and, therefore, it’s difficult to confirm coverage specifics.
The group ColoradoCareYES gathered enough signatures — more than 100,000 — to put a single-payer health system on the ballot next fall. But the price tag is a worry to some.
Kaiser Permanente CEO Bernard Tyson says the new school is part of the HMO's effort to transform the "health care ecosystem" in the 21st century.
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